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Life On Lookout

Lost Art - How Townsend Atelier is Building Chattanooga's Art Scene

27-Jun-2017by Merrell McGinness

Michelangelo had the Medicis. Chattanooga artists have Townsend Atelier. Lookout Mountain native Peggy Townsend and her husband Stan may not be funding up-and-coming artists like the famous Florentine family did, but they are playing a key role in keeping the arts alive in Chattanooga.

With lofty ceilings, easels as far as the eye can see and near life-sized figures in charcoal, Townsend Atelier could pass as any prestigious art school in the country – with one key difference.

The pressure is not there like you have in an academic setting,” explains Peggy. “If you’re a professional, there’s a place for you here. If you’re just curious and intimidated, there’s a place for you too.

Atelier is the French word for “workshop.” In the art world it has come to mean passing on a skill set from a practicing professional (master) to an apprentice. At Townsend, it means offering classes of all levels taught by professional artists.

We’re very deliberate about engaging with instructors who are great teachers but are also successful practicing artists,” says Peggy. “Students not only receive excellent instruction but also timely advice when it comes to marketing or selling their work.

Once a common practice, ateliers are a rarity these days, particularly in the Southeast. But the movement is growing, says Peggy. Townsend focuses on classical disciplines such as drawing, painting, sculpture, color mixing and theory. Their facility does not allow them to do anything with metals or glass, and they don’t focus on things that tend to be on the side of “craft.”

Classes range from $15 per class for open studio drawing with live models, to $250 for a weekly oil painting class with well-known local artist Mia Bergeron. Weekend workshops with visiting artists attract students from across the country, such as the upcoming alla-prima portrait workshop with California-based Sean Cheetham.

All ages are welcome at the Atelier, especially at the five weeks of children’s art camps this summer. During the fall there are offerings for homeschool students and even “Mommy and Me” classes. They also rent space to up-and-coming artists like Caleb Stoltzfus, who’s decision to study art at Covenant College was influenced by the fact that Chattanooga has an atelier.

Peggy and Stan have been heavily involved in Chattanooga’s cultural scene since the late 80’s – Stan as a professional artist and Peggy as an arts administrator for the Hunter, AVA, and the City of Chattanooga. They started Townsend Atelier in 2007 as a web store for artist’s supplies, but classes were always part of their long-range vision.

We love Chattanooga, and are committed to helping make it a cultural and arts destination,” says Peggy. “We see the arts as an ecosystem, and you need every flavor. We’re one flavor, and hopefully filling a void that’s not being met by other entities.